Captured!
by badaesthetic
Summary: Zuko is at a port, when he spots Sokka!He tries to spy on Sokka but is seen by said boomerang guy!The two are captured by pirates and are forced to work together if they want to escape.Set after Zuko burns down Kyoshi Island.Mild violence.My first fanfic.
1. Chapter 1

_Hi! This is my very first fan fiction EVER, so I know that there must be lots of mistakes. PLEASE review, because I really want to know what I did wrong. This will probably be a two-shot._

_Zuko's POV. He stops in a town, and runs into Sokka. They get captured by pirates, and they end up having to work together in order to escape. _

Honor, love, acceptance.

That's all I want. These things, they are the reason that I'm out on this seemingly endless quest to capture the Avatar. I have to capture the Avatar, for he is my only ticket home. Without him, I am nothing in my father's eyes. Nothing but a weak failure. But I'll show them, I'll show them all. I'm not a failure, I'm not weak, I am Prince Zuko, son of Firelord Ozai and Firelady Ursa. Heir to the throne. That is, only if I capture the Avatar. Now I am just Zuko, the disgrace. Anyone can see who I am, everyone can see my shame, just by glancing at my face. My scar gives everything away. It marks me, its like a curse, the curse of the banished prince, forced to chase the Avatar for the rest of my miserable life. But like I said, I will show everyone, my father mostly, that they were wrong.

Thoughts like these were running through Zuko's head as he practiced his firebending out on the deck of his ship. It was just yesterday when he fought the Avatar and the two Water Tribe peasants at Kyoshi Island. Surprisingly, he found himself feeling a little sick inside at the thought of how he burned down that village. He was not Zhou. He was not Azula. The Avatar should consider himself lucky that it was Zuko who was hunting him down and not Azula. Azula would have captured him by now. Azula would not have made any mistakes. Azula is perfect. "Prince Zuko?" His uncle Iroh called out from the door that led out to the deck.

"What is it, Uncle?" Zuko questioned, his golden eyes shining from the fire that still remained.

"We're out of tea, there is a town at the nearest port. It will only take a few hours." Iroh replied, with a pleading tone.

"Tea? A few hours? We don't have a few hours, Uncle! Can't you just drink water?"

"No! Tea is more than just a cure for thirstiness! It is a way of life! _My _of life!" Iroh cried in what Zuko thought was disbelief.

"Humph- fine. But we will only be there for three hours, tops!" Zuko hissed out in frustration.

"Thank you, Prince Zuko. I am blessed to have such an understanding nephew." Iroh smiled, as Zuko "Humphed" again.

...ooooOOOOO00000OOOOOoooo...

The port they stopped in was a overall small one, there were lots of good shops, but not very many houses. _Must be a tourist attraction, then. _Zuko thought.

While his uncle strolled into a tea shop to buy tea, Zuko decided to find somewhere quiet to sit, away from all the busy shoppers. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the Water Tribe peasant, the boy. He was talking to a merchant about buying a purse. "Man Bag!" He insisted.

Luckily, Zuko was not wearing his usual armor today, since he had not expected to run into the Water tribe boy, so the foolish young man will not recognize him. He was wearing a sleeveless button-up shirt today, (the one he wears when training) and his usual boots and pants. He was wearing a cloak on top of that. Pulling the hood over his partially-bald head and over his gold eyes, Zuko quietly crept over to a bench that was next to the bench where the boy was sitting. Apparently, the merchant would not lower the price and the Water tribe boy could not afford the purse. (Man-bag!)

Zuko briefly tried to remember what the boy's name was. _Sokka...? _he thought.

Zuko was pretty sure that the girl (_Katara...?)_ called him that when they were battling. "Excuse me, sir, but is this seat taken?" spoke up a loud girl's voice.

When Zuko turned around, he saw a pretty young woman with big brown eyes smiling at him. Zuko merely frowned, and muttered a reply; "No...You can sit there..."

Obviously, the girl was interested in Zuko, because she was giving him a look of complete adoration, a look similar to the look that the Avatar gives to Katara. But of course, Zuko being the grumpy honor-obsessed prince he is, hadn't even thought of that. He ignored her, and went back to observing the downcast boy in the next bench over out of the corner of his eye. "Sooooooooo, what's your name?" the brown-eyed girl loudly questioned.

"Uuuuuuhhhhhhhhmmmmmm..." Zuko quickly scanned his brain for a good alias, if he said his real name then Sokka would hear and confront him, "L-lee."

"So your names Lee?"

_Yes, that's what I just said._ The girl was annoying, but Zuko didn't particularly feel like yelling today.

"Yes." he replied, scowling.

Reading this, one might question why Zuko was watching Sokka pout over not being able to afford a purse, (MAN-BAG!) but Zuko does have a reason for it. Well, not really. Zukos just doing this out of curiosity. He wants to see what they act like and how they live outside of battle, since battle is really the only time they meet. The girl continues to goad and annoy Zuko, until he is about to snap. Right when Zuko is about to snap and yell at the girl to go away, a even louder voice than the girl's interrupts. "Zuko!" Sokka shouts in disbelief.

"Sssssshhhhhhh- Shut up!" Zuko hisses as he puts his hand over Sokka's mouth as an attempt to cease his yelling, almost strangling the boomerang guy in the process.

"Mlaaaaaa~"

"Ewwwwww! Gross!" Zuko shouted as he wrung out his hand which Sokka just licked.

"That's what you get when you try to silence me- the super-omniscient-all-powerful boomerang man~" Sokka cried in a singsong voice, "Now tell me, evil-doer, why are you here, in my presence!"

"Omniscient? Please, the day you become omniscient is the day that my-"

"Why are you in my presence?" Sokka repeated.

"Come over here and I'll tell you!" Zuko grabbed Sokka by the arm and pulled him over to an alley, where they won't be overheard, leaving a confused young girl sitting on the bench wondering who "Lee" really is.

Once they were in the alley, Zuko explained why he was there. "-Then I saw you, and got curious." Zuko concluded.

"You got curious while your uncle bought tea? If that's all you have to tell me then why did you drag me by the arm back here?" Sokka asked incredulously.

"I don't want anyone to know who I am. Since this port is often used for Firenavy ships , most people here would know a little about the Firenation, which means that they know who I am." Zuko seethed.

"Why wouldn't you want people to recognize you?" Sokka asked, genuinely curious, which was why he was no longer sneering at his Firenation enemy.

"No reason!" Zuko retorted, anyway, I've told you why I'm here, now tell me why you're here!"

"Simple. While Aang and Katara are playing in a stream a little bit west of here with their magic water, I wanted to go shopping. Then I saw you, and my whole day was ruined." Sokka explained with a smug grin.

That smug grin faded away into horror as he realized that he just gave the Avatar's location away. Sokka heard a sharp intake of breath as Zuko realized this too. "of course, if you're here, then the Avatar must be nearby-"

Zuko's realization came to an abrupt stop when a big metal pot came in contact with his head. Sokka, surprised, looked up to see who had hit Zuko, when the same thing happened to him.

...ooooOOOOO00000OOOOOoooo...

_Muahahahahahahahaha! End of chapter one! Chapter two should be up soon._


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter twooooooooooooo!_

_Sorry, I made a mistake and accidentally put chapter one in as two- ha...haha...ha... Wellllll... This is the real chapter two... Ha...ha...haha..._

A sliver of light shown in from the boarded-up windows that were roughly cut into the wall, they were too high to reach without standing on something. Sokka blinked slowly, trying to get used to the dim lighting. After a few moments, he spotted Zuko lying a few feet away.

First thing, Sokka decided, was to analyze the area. His dad gave him a few tips on what to do if he ever found himself in an unfamiliar place, and Sokka decided to put them to use. He looked around, looking to see if he could find anything of use; an object, really. On the wall to Sokka's left, there is a locked barn door. He could tell that it was locked because there was a large chain wrapped around the doorknob. In the far corner of the room, there was a pitchfork, and a pile of hay. In the opposite corner, was three bags of feed. _So- this must be a barn! _Sokka concluded. He glanced over at Zuko, who was laying on his side. Zuko's pale skin contrasted the dark of the room, and the reddish -brown of his scar. A curious expression on his face, Sokka briefly wondered how Zuko came to have such a thing. Three years ago, before Sokka's dad left to fight in the war, lots of rumors spread around the Southern water tribe about the Firenation. Sokka never heard any of them, because they said that he was too young to know about such things, but he did know that the rumors had something to do with Zuko. Most of the Gaang just assumed that he got it in a training accident, but Sokka thought otherwise. Zuko didn't like to talk about his scar, that much he knew. And do you really think that he would be so touchy about it if he just got it in an accident? _That's just what I think... _Sokka thought.

Also, Sokka couldn't help but wonder, what was Zuko's childhood like? Most people just thought, oh, he's the prince. He's Firelord Ozai's son. But think about it, _he's the Firelord's SON._ Remembering how kind and caring his father is, he couldn't help but wonder, what kind of father is Ozai?

He couldn't imagine Ozai as a caring father, but Zuko must have had a good childhood, since he was a prince and all. He must have had servants around him all the time, asking him if he needed anything. He would have had a three warm meals everyday, big ones, he would probably have never felt cold, and he would have had a mother to take care of him. Right? Vaguely, Sokka wondered about Zuko's mom. He heard tons of crap about the Firelord, of course, but he has never heard anything about the Firelady. _It doesn't really matter, anyway. _Sokka thought. The Gaang never really thought, or talked, about Zuko too much. They never really bothered with his past, all they really knew about him was the fact that he was the Firenation prince, and the fact that he was trying to kill them constantly. That really was all they _needed _to know. "But really, what kind of father was Firelord Ozai?" Sokka accidentally thought out loud.

"That's none of your business, Water tribe peasant." Jerked out of his thoughts, Sokka noticed that Zuko had woken up, and was glaring at him with that intense stare, his golden eyes making him even more menacing.

"Don't call me a Water tribe peasant, you...you ponytail freak!" Sokka stuttered.

"_Ponytail freak?_ What's that on _your_ head?"

"It's a wolf tail!"

"Well mine is a phoenix plume!"

"_What?_"

"Whatever." Zuko muttered and looked away.

_Well he can really keep a conversation going._

"How did you get your scar?" Sokka blurted out, quickly regretting it after he saw Zuko's facioal expression.

Everything seemed to silence for a moment, as Zuko tried to figure out how to regret. Zuko didn't know if he should be angry, sad, or surprised. Sokka, however, was curious about his answer. "That's none of your business, either." He muttered.

Suddenly getting serious, Sokka replied; "Well, my friends and I really don't know much about you, and I don't really feel like I can judge you without knowing a little about you... Although I already know everything about you that I need to know." He added, with an uncharacteristic glare.

Sokka was goofy and often foolish, but he actually does think things through when he needs to, and he is serious when he needs to be. Zuko was silent for a moment. "The story of my scar is not a story you want to hear." He finally said, after thinking.

"Come on, it can't be that bad." Sokka reassured, surprising himself with his mild kindness, "Just tell me."

"It's a long story. It happened about...two or three years ago." Zuko took a deep breath. He'd never directly told anyone how he got his scar, "I really wanted to go to a war meeting, but the guards wouldn't let me in, since I wasn't invited. I convinced my uncle to let me in, but I wasn't allowed to speak. A few minutes into the meeting, a general came up with a plan, that would use newly-recruited soldiers as a sacrifice. I spoke up, I didn't think that that was right...they were loyal to the Firenation...they didn't deserve to- never mind..." Zuko muttered moodily.

Sokka couldn't believe it. Zuko _did something good?_ If what he's saying true, then he tried to save those soldiers lives! "Well, what happened next?" Sokka asked.

"I'm _getting _to it, fool... After I apoke up, my father became very angry, he said that what I did was a sign of great disrespect. He said that the only way to resolve this matter was by an Agni kai."

"Agni kai?" Sokka questioned.

"It means fire duel." Zuko explained, "I then looked at the general that I disrespected, and declared that I was not afraid. But I made a mistake. I thought that I had disrespected the general."

"Didn't you?" Sokka asked.

"No... By speaking out in my father's war room, it was my father who I disrespected. Therefore, it was my father who I had to fight in an Agni kai. As soon as I realized this, I was already about to fight my father. I fell to my knees and begged for him to forgive me, I told him that I was a loyal son, and that I would never make that mistake again..."

Now Zuko seemed to almost be talking to himself, like he was no longer aware that Sokka was in the room with him. "But he wouldn't listen to me. He told me...he told me that I would learn respect, and suffering would be my teacher... Then he... pulled his arm back... And..." Now Zuko seemed to be aware of Sokka's presence, and immediately tried to change the subject, "And, well, you can guess the rest..."

"Y-your _father _did that to you?" Sokka was astonished, he had no idea that a father could be so cruel.

His dad has always been so great to him! "I deserved it, I disrespected him!" Zuko defended.

"What? I've _disrespected _tons of people, and I don't have any scars!"

"Well your dad isn't the Firelord!"

"I don't care if your dad is that grumpy monkey in the spirit world that Aang told me about! That still doesn't give him the right to _burn your face!_"

"What? Why do you care, anyway? I thought you already knew everything that you need to know! I don't need your pity." Zuko retorted, his face contorted into anger, "Right now we just need to figure out where we are."

"Oh- right. Well, I'm guessing that we're in a barn." Sokka stated his conclusions.

"Wow. I never would have guessed." Zuko growled sarcastically, "Maybe we can take that incredible knowledge of your's and shove it up that grumpy monkey's-"

"Okay, ladies, it looks like you've awakened." Came a voice.

"Spinning around, the fire prince and the Water tribe boy saw a man dressed in rugged dirty clothes standing in the now unlocked and open barn door. "Pirates!" Sokka exclaimed.

Now he remembered, pirates had knocked him and Zuko out in that alley-"No, it's my sister Azula." Zuko interrupted his thoughts sarcastically.

"You have a sister?" Sokka asked, he hadn't known that.

"You don't know anything, do you?"

"Hey ladies, are you gonna stop releasing sexual tension, or am I going to have shut you up myself?" Snapped the pirate.

They decided to shut up, and the pirate began to speak. "We know who both of you are, and we intend to make good use of you. Water tribe kid, your Chief Hakoda's son, right?"

"What of it?" Asked Sokka, trying desperately to sound cool.

"Your dad will pay a large ransom for you." The pirate sneered, then he turned to Zuko, "I know for a fact that your dad won't pay a cent for you, but plenty of other people would love to see you, the son of the Firelord, executed."

Zuko blanched. Zuko was about to speak when Sokka spoke up. "No!"

Obviously, the pirates were pretty stupid, or wayyy to self-confident, because Sokka still had his boomerang. Sokka whipped his arm forward, sendind the weapon spiraling towards the pirate. When the pirate pulled out his oversized hammers-he was an earth bender, apparently- to block the boomerang, Zuko snapped his hand forward, sendind a funnel of flames pouring out at the rugged earthbender. Hitting him square in the chest, the pirate was sent spinning deeper into the barn. "We have to get out of here before he uses earth bending , or before any other pirates show up." Sokka called out to Zuko.

"You don't tell me what to do, but, yeah..." Zuko muttered grumpily.

They ran out the door while the pirate tried to catch his breath. When they got out of the barn, they saw the pirate's ship, and they saw the pirates sitting in a circle, eating what was probably lunch. "Come on." Zuko whispered to Sokka, and pointed at a patch of trees to the right of the barn.

They snuck out into the trees, they didn't stop running until the pirates cries of: "They're getting away!" were gone. "Well, we make a pretty good team, don't we?" Sokka smirked.

"Don't say that. And whatever you do, don't tell anyone about this." Zuko snapped, "Next time we meet, we will be enemies again. And... Forget what I told you about my scar.."

Zuko ran off in the direction of the port that they were in yesterday, without glancing back. "Well...Goodbye..." Sokka mumbled, knowing that Zuko couldn't hear him anymore. Deep down, Sokka knew that he wouldn't forget what Zuko told him about his scar. _So... He does have good in him. He's not the bad guy. His father is._

Goodbye, Zuko.

_Well? How was it? Please critique! Once again, I want to know what I did wrong! And thank all of you who added this to their favorites! It makes me feel warm inside, like a fresh-out-of-the-oven brownie. Mmmm...brownies..._

_Cheers~ Somnia_


End file.
